Daily Photo Galleries

Dining Out Photo Galleries

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

The dilemma, though, is figuring out exactly when to eat it. If you're headed to a ballgame, sure, that's perfect. But what about during the workweek• Is it a heavy snack, or a light meal• Is it a lunch, or something to keep hunger at bay until dinner?

"It's all of the above," says Rob Day, who just opened Go Pretzel, Downtown. "We thought it would be a good, nice quick on-the-go lunch Downtown. Sometimes, you just want a quick snack -- pretzels are good for that. It's (for) people who are in between meals. It's (for) people who just don't have enough time to get a meal. It's (for) people who want to get a snack anytime of the day. It's (for) people on the go -- people getting on the bus. Maybe, they're hungry before the ride home."

Day also runs the Pittsburgh Popcorn Co. with his wife, Genalle, which conveniently has a location right across the street along Liberty Avenue. It's largely a takeout operation -- although you could stand there and eat your pretzel, if you want -- in a small space, formerly occupied by Dozen bakery. The Downtown space is too small for pretzel production, so they're made across the street at the Pittsburgh Popcorn Co.

"We thought Downtown Pittsburgh needed a place for a good soft-baked pretzel," Day says. "We've visited a lot of cities -- Philly, D.C., Chicago. Whenever we go there, we always look to see what they have that Pittsburgh is sort of lacking."

That just happened to be pretzels, at least, Downtown. The classic, no-frills Original ($2.69) is Go Pretzel's best-seller so far, a bit less salty than you'd get at the ballpark, but, otherwise, familiar. The Cinnamon Sugar ($2.79) also does well.

From there, the menu gets a little creative/weird.

"We kind of brainstormed about what would go good with pretzels," Day says. "There's a lot you can do with it. You can do some savory stuff. On the sweet side, we have Toasted Almond. We just made a Pumpkin. We have some savory stuff all the time: Jalapeno & Cheese, Pepperoni & Cheese.

"We did an Olive. At this point, we're experimenting with our menu, experimenting with our flavors. We did a Sour Cream & Onion for the first couple of weeks. We'll probably do a Garlic and Parsley before the week is over, and a Ranch..."

Most of the pretzels cost $2.79. For 79 cents, you can add a dipping sauce -- everything from hazelnut Nutella to Dutch Chocolate, Cheddar Cheese and Dijon Mustard.

Then, there's the Pretzel Dog ($2.99).

"I'm not sure where that idea came from," Day says. "I feel like Pittsburgh is a big hot-dog town. It's an all-beef Eisenberg frank, with a pretzel wrapped around it."

Go Pretzel

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.